Page 45 of Girl Between (Dana Gray FBI Mystery Thriller #5)

Dana looked on from her spot by the wall as Dr. Cruz meticulously explained her autopsy report to Detective George.

At first glance Dana had been surprised by Dr. Cruz’s youthfulness, but with her attention to detail and professionalism, it was no wonder the barely thirty-something woman had risen to such a prominent position already.

Dr. Cruz’s ability to think outside the box earned Dana’s respect as well. Although she’d moved on quickly since bringing it up, Dana’s mind was still snagged on Dr. Cruz’s comment about the black market.

Selling organs was a lucrative business. Lucrative enough to kill over? That was the question. But in Dana’s experience, criminal enterprise was motive enough for just about anything.

“Can you say that in English?” George asked, pulling Dana from her musings about missing organs.

Dr. Cruz paused her medical dissertation and blinked at George, blushing slightly.

“Right, sorry.” She gestured to the body.

“The long and short of it is your victim is missing part of her liver, spleen, a kidney, and a great deal of blood. The interesting thing is the removal of organs occurred antemortem. ”

“They were removed while she was alive?” George asked. “Are you sure?”

“Quite,” Dr. Cruz said, gesturing to the large surgical incision on the victim’s side. “You can see evidence of healing in the tissue.”

“So someone removed her organs, then killed her?” he clarified.

“Possibly. The removal of those particular portions of organs isn’t necessarily cause for death. Though I can’t rule out that the victim didn’t die due to post-op complications. The crudeness of the incisions speaks to amateur work.”

George frowned. “I thought you said the suspect is someone with extensive medical training?”

“That’s what’s so puzzling,” Dr. Cruz remarked.

“The scalpel work is rudimentary, but the knowledge of TNC, that’s the abbreviation for transnasal craniotomy,” she clarified for George.

He nodded his understanding, and Dr. Cruz continued.

“TNC is a dated, yet advanced skill. It’s not something the average person or even physician would be familiar with.

I also think it’s important to note that the blood was extracted postmortem. ”

George tapped his chin. “So sloppy incisions, but precise operating techniques. Organs removed prior to death, blood removed after death. We could be dealing with two unsubs,” he said. “One with surgical knowledge, one with bloodlust.”

“That’s a dangerous combo,” said Dr. Cruz.

“Is it a workable theory?” George asked.

“Yes, but at this point, we don’t even have cause of death. And there’s not enough evidence to prove multiple unsubs indefinitely,” she admitted. “If I were you, I’d focus my efforts on finding out who practices this type of TNC.”

“Why the TNC?” he asked.

“For one thing, it’s rare enough to narrow your suspect pool. Plus, if this victim wasn’t dead before it was performed, it could be our COD. The unsub used TNC to extract the victim’s blood; exactly 6 pints.”

Dana’s breath caught. “The weight of a soul. ”

She’d spoken softly to herself, but Dr. Cruz hadn’t missed the comment.

“Exactly,” the young coroner agreed, her keen gaze assessing Dana.

Dana couldn’t stop her mind from recalling the haunting study where Dr. Duncan MacDougall performed controversial experiments to measure the weight of a soul leaving the body at the moment of death.

21 grams.

7 pounds.

6 pints.

Each equaled the scientific equivalent of the sum of a human life.

The Massachusetts physician was widely ridiculed for wanting to increase his sample size in order to validate his results, earning him the nickname as the first doctor of death.

“What am I missing?” George asked, looking between the two women.

“Just an old folklore,” Dr. Cruz said. “The blood loss fits with the assessment at the scene that someone tried to embalm your victim. Which was a great catch by the way.”

“That was all Dr. Gray,” George admitted.

Dr. Cruz’s gaze moved to Dana again, her dark eyes inquisitive. “How did you come to that conclusion?”